There has been a growing problem worldwide with respect to counterfeit goods. These counterfeits are often of a much lower quality than authentic goods and frequently comprise adulterated or dangerous materials and/or components. The growth of counterfeit goods has been a major problem for companies that have to deal with repercussions of adulterated goods being passed off as their authentic goods. These repercussions include product liability issues, warranty issues, damage to the company's public image, harm to consumers, lost revenues and policing and enforcement. The harm to consumers has been significant, in some cases leading to hospitalization and even death. The damage to the manufacturers of the authentic products has been enormous and runs in the billions of dollars annually.
From a security perspective, the ability for criminals and terrorists to forge identification cards, passports and other security instruments has resulted in major security breaches and puts the public in extreme danger.
To date there has been no solution that can adequately verify the authenticity of products without having to test or carefully inspect the product. Because a detailed and costly inspection is required, the cost for verification is prohibitive for many products on the market. There is also no solution that can accurately and automatically verify the authenticity of identification cards and security instruments at a reasonable cost and that cannot be reproduced easily, quickly and cheaply. Additionally, there is no solution that can accurately and automatically verify the authenticity of identification cards and security instruments without the use of biometrics, such as finger prints or retinal scans. This is a growing concern, as many people are concerned about the use of biometrics because of privacy issues and because once a person's biometric information is stolen, there is no way to change that information as it is a physical part of a person. This has generated significant concern, particularly because of the large amount of credit card and other security data that has recently been stolen and continues to be stolen on a daily basis.